The Korean Heritage Library (KHL) was established in April, 1986 with the aim of building comprehensive collections in all areas of Korean Studies. Today, 25 years later, KHL’s 75,000 books, 2,000 serials, 3,700 videocassettes & DVDs, 3,800 reels of microfilm, 600 maps (including 180 rare maps), extensive electronic resources and digital archives have earned it an international reputation. In addition to its strong general print collections, the KHL is best known for the following special collections: the Korean-American Digital Archive, the Sea of Korea Maps Collection, Korean cinema, electronic resources, and the Korean Missionary Archives. In addition, as a founding member of the Korean Collections Consortium of North America, a resource sharing grant program supported by the Korea Foundation, the USC KHL has made a special effort to build and freely share the following subject collections:

publications about/from Cholla-do

cinema

communication, mass media, journalism, advertising

contemporary language and linguistics

public administration

geography (including maps and atlases)

publications on Korea and Koreans published in Southern California

USC can boast one unique feature that no other academic libraries in North America can claim: that it places its Korean collection at the forefront of the East Asian Library as its most prominent collection. To put the KHL’s special status in perspective, the average holdings of 55 East Asian libraries in North America in 2008 consisted of 58% Chinese titles, 35% Japanese, and 7-8% Korean. Earlier in 1990, the percentage of Korean titles had been even smaller, a mere 5% of total East Asian libraries’ holdings. In stark contrast to this national trend, at USC, Korean is the largest and most robust part of the East Asian Library, occupying almost 50% of its overall resources in terms of collection size, budget, human resources, and grants. This unique phenomenon is what sets USC apart from the rest of the library world, and that is why it is so very special.